The Rubicon Speech

• In 1985, Botha offered to release Mandela, provided he renounce violence
• Mandela refused, with his daughter reading a letter on his behalf – “what freedom am I being offered?”
• Following on from his reforms of the Apartheid regime and the new 1983 constitution, Botha was was to make a speech in August 1985
• It was expected that greater reform was to be announced, but the biggest announcement which was to be expected was the release of Nelson Mandela
• What did Botha announce during his Rubicon speech? Essentially…absolutely nothing!
• Despite being a worldwide broadcast, during which Botha had been expected to announce concessions, he did just the opposite
• Botha instead stated that Mandela would never be released and merely reiterated the rhetoric of Total Onslaught, Total Strategy
• The main consequences of the Rubicon speech were economic
• The Rand (South Africa currency) fell dramatically in value against foreign currencies
• This meant that South Africa were even more isolated then before in the international community
• The economy continued to shrink, whilst Total Strategy continued to channel resources into the military/police